I’VE been leaning to the left all week.
Top of mind has been the actions of 'pocket rocket' Cassio, who decided that he was not 'mentally fit' enough to play against the Gold Coast last week.
I can relate. After the devastation of the 2-0 loss I had considered not writing the blog this week, again on grounds of being mentally unwell. I thought better of it.
Cassio's decision to rearrange the sock draw at home in preference to attending the match was predicated on him not being happy with the on-field role he's being asked to play. Essentially Jamo has hit spot.
Leaving aside the issue of whether the "I'm taking my bat and ball and going home" approach can ever have merit, the disagreement between player and coach has seemingly been smoothed over, at least in a public sense.
Privately though, I doubt that Cassio's views have changed and the more that I've thought about it this week, the more I've leaned (again to the left) towards a position of agreement with what he's saying.
I've always thought that the left side of the field has been a real strength for Adelaide. Scott Jamieson has been a revelation, evidenced by his national squad call-up, and has always seemed a natural at left-back. Throw Cassio and Pantelis into the mix, higher up the field, and one would think it's a lethal combination.
Looking back to the 2008/09 season though, the trio only managed to score 6 goals (Cassio 4, Pantelis 2) between them through the entire campaign. For such a talented group of players, to me that's light on. Sure they create goals as well but if I was in Viddie's chair, I'd re-shuffle the deck.
Cassio should play at left-back. He's solid in defence and adds an experience factor to the back four which this year is desperately needed. And he is still likely to score goals from that position (based on his playing history), something that, as yet, Jamo hasn't managed to do.
In front of Cassio at left-midfield I'd slot in Jamo. He has creativity coming out of his ears and blistering pace to burn. I'd let him loose with instructions to attack the goal, take players on and continually be on the move. To me his talents are somewhat wasted at the back.
To complete the left-sided puzzle I can find no room, at the moment, for Lucas Pantelis. Between playing two up front (Owusu and Cristiano) and the Reds' plethora of talented, attacking midfield options (Reid, Shin, Barbiero, Dodd, Sarkies), Pantelis would unfortunately be squeezed out.
Ahhh, the left feels better already. I feel like I'm back in alignment.
